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In an e-mail to users, Google officially announced the settlement of its Google Buzz class-action lawsuit, reports Switched.

As PCMag.com notes, affected users (i.e. those that received the e-mail) have four options: accept the settlement, object, go to a hearing or do nothing. However, none of the options will result in cash. Instead, the $8.5 million settlement will go into a fund for privacy education. BuzzClassAction.com explains:
Under the Settlement, Google will establish an $8.5 million Common Fund to fund organizations focused on Internet privacy policy or privacy education, as well as to cover lawyers’ fees and costs and other expenses.

Users have until Dec. 6 to exclude themselves from the settlement, with the option to bring another suit.

Google rarely contacts Gmail users via email, but we are making an exception to let you know that we've reached a settlement in a lawsuit regarding Google Buzz (http://buzz.google.com), a service we launched within Gmail in February of this year.

Shortly after its launch, we heard from a number of people who were concerned about privacy. In addition, we were sued by a group of Buzz users and recently reached a settlement in this case.

The settlement acknowledges that we quickly changed the service to address users' concerns. In addition, Google has committed $8.5 million to an independent fund, most of which will support organizations promoting privacy education and policy on the web. We will also do more to educate people about privacy controls specific to Buzz. The more people know about privacy online, the better their online experience will be.

Just to be clear, this is not a settlement in which people who use Gmail can file to receive compensation. Everyone in the U.S. who uses Gmail is included in the settlement, unless you personally decide to opt out before December 6, 2010. The Court will consider final approval of the agreement on January 31, 2011. This email is a summary of the settlement, and more detailed information and instructions approved by the court, including instructions about how to opt out, object, or comment, are available at http://www.BuzzClassAction.com.

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This mandatory announcement was sent to all Gmail users in the United States as part of a legal settlement and was authorized by the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

Wait... What? Just checked my email, I received an identical document.

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Yup, Google basically inserted all of us into Buzz - a bit like your ISP behind-your-back signing you up to Facebook and releasing your personal details. So people got fed up and sued.

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Incorrect.

The suit was regarding the fact that Buzz had a huge security flaw where it would automatically display any of your frequent gmail contacts publically on your profile page. Buzz being opt-out only increased the number of plaintiffs.

Wait... What? Just checked my email, I received an identical document.

Click to expand...

Yup, Google basically inserted all of us into Buzz - a bit like your ISP behind-your-back signing you up to Facebook and releasing your personal details. So people got fed up and sued.

Click to expand...

Incorrect.

The suit was regarding the fact that Buzz had a huge security flaw where it would automatically display any of your frequent gmail contacts publically on your profile page. Buzz being opt-out only increased the number of plaintiffs.

Wait... What? Just checked my email, I received an identical document.

Click to expand...

Yup, Google basically inserted all of us into Buzz - a bit like your ISP behind-your-back signing you up to Facebook and releasing your personal details. So people got fed up and sued.

Click to expand...

Incorrect.

The suit was regarding the fact that Buzz had a huge security flaw where it would automatically display any of your frequent gmail contacts publically on your profile page. Buzz being opt-out only increased the number of plaintiffs.

Click to expand...

what i said

Click to expand...

Once again, the fact that it was opt-out is not the grounds for the lawsuit, which is what you seemed to state.